Like Him

[0:00] Music Yes, we're going to spend our time just now, as our brother just read.

[0:27] ! I'll read those words again. And let it sink in to your hearing. Let it sink in. Like Him, like Him.

[0:38] Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.

[0:52] Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him. For we shall see Him as He is.

[1:04] And every man that hath this hope in Him, this hope in Him, purifies himself, even as he is pure. Whosoever committeth sin, transgresseth also the law.

[1:16] For sin is the transgression of the law. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins. And in Him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in Him, sinneth not.

[1:30] Whosoever sinneth, hath not seen Him, neither known Him. Little children, let no man deceive you. He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous.

[1:41] Some thoughts about being like Jesus. Firstly, we see this repeated theme here. We shall be like Him.

[1:54] Verse 2. We shall be like Him. Ultimately, yes, we shall be like Him. We're going to be similar to Him at His coming. When He shall appear, we shall be like Him.

[2:07] We are going to resemble Him. Every one of you that know Him, you will be like Him. When He comes, you will be like Him. We're going to resemble Him. We're going to be like Him. We're going to act like Him.

[2:18] We're going to live like Him. 1 John 4.17 says, Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment. Because as He is, so are we in the world.

[2:32] As He is, so are we in the world. In the world. This world. He was in the world. And He wants us to live like He lived. In this world.

[2:44] How can we? How can we live so? What was He like when He was in the world? How did He live? We look through the Gospels. We see the record of His life.

[2:55] Of His interactions of what He lived. How He lived. And how we ought to identify with Him as a true believer. To be like Him. We see in His record. He lived a life of love.

[3:07] Of truth. Of grace. Of wisdom. And see His relationships. How He dealt with people. His teaching was lived out. It was real. It was real life.

[3:18] Not some kind of theory. And He was real. Not a phony. And friends. He wants us. You and me. To be like Him. That's something hard to grasp.

[3:29] Isn't it? That we can be. He is our model. We are called to be like Him. Let that sink in for a moment.

[3:40] To think. To be like Jesus. To be as He lived. His life in the Gospels. And I know. In our day and night Bible studies. We are looking at a couple of Gospels at the moment.

[3:52] And the life that He lived. It's a testimony. Isn't it? It's a challenge for us. He is our model. When the wife of a missionary. Adoniram Judson. Told him about a newspaper article.

[4:06] That likened Judson to one of the apostles. Judson said this. I do not want to be like a Paul. Or a mere man. I want to be like Christ.

[4:18] I want to follow Him. Only. Copy His teachings. Drink in His spirit. Place my feet in His footsteps. Oh.

[4:29] To be more like Christ. He wants that for you. He wants that for us.

[4:40] And we are going to walk like Him. In the light. In 1 John 2.6. It says. He that saith He abideth in Him. Ought Himself also so to walk.

[4:53] Even as He walked. 1 John 2.6. You say that you abide in Him. You ought to walk so to walk. Even as He walked.

[5:05] Walked. How did He walk? How did He walk? If only we could walk in His sandals. As it were. And see how He lived. What He lived like. He was so sensitive to others' needs.

[5:16] And He washed the disciples' feet. As a servant. And with that true humility of heart. He was full of forgiveness and love. To those that really. Others would have discounted and given up on.

[5:31] Can we see the signs, the marks that identify His life. That we can display. How can we copy Christ?

[5:42] To be like Him. What does it really mean? To be Christ-like. It means that we are to live as like stars. In a darkened world. In Philippians 2.15.

[5:53] It says we ought to shine as lights in the world. Matthew 5.16. It's got that same theme. How our Lord says. Let your light so shine before men.

[6:05] That they may see your good works. And glorify your Father. Which is in heaven. Live your life to the glory of God. That's a great aspiration to have, isn't it?

[6:17] That you can live your life like He calls you to. And to shine like a brilliant, dazzling light. That His light will be seen in your life.

[6:28] That's God's will for us. That's His intent. His ideal. When He created man in His own likeness. Genesis 1. It was His intention right from the start.

[6:39] God's plan. God's ideal. And if we could only, as it were, place our feet in His footprints. To walk in His sandals. As He walked those roads of Palestine.

[6:50] As He met the people. The lepers. The outcasts. The rejects. The prostitutes. Those that others would write off. God's love. He reached out.

[7:01] And His love personified. Love lived out. As He showed grace and love touching the lives of so many. And He gave compassion. And He gave care.

[7:13] We see many instances. The people that He interacted with. For example, the widow at Nain. In Luke 7.13. Her son had died. And it says of him.

[7:24] He had compassion on her. He was filled with compassion. It says. At Lazarus's tomb. As he stood by the grieving ones. He saw the tears falling.

[7:35] And he wept. Our Lord was a light to the one. The Samaritan. Who aided the man left bleeding and dying. It says.

[7:46] Of him. He had compassion. On the man. Luke 10.33. Jesus has compassion. And what would Jesus do if He visited our world. Our town. Our streets. Who would He reach out to?

[7:58] Friends. Think of it. That they were not. They were not. They were not. They were not. Think of it. The battered. The taunt. The abused. The addicts.

[8:09] The rejects. The hurting. He would have had time for them. He would have had a heart for them. And what would He do? He'd hear them. He'd hear them.

[8:20] And He'd see their need. Beyond the exterior. To see their heart. And we are called friends. To walk even as He walked. Can we think of that?

[8:32] To show that in our lives. In relation to others. To be like Him. To be like our precious Lord. There was a brilliant preacher. One day. He had some learned infidel come to his lectures.

[8:46] And one day the infidel became a Christian. You know this God hater said, I want to be saved. And the preacher said, which one of my lectures brought conviction to you?

[8:57] And he thought it must have been something I said. And with a chilling smile the convert replied, my dear sir. It was not through your lectures that I was converted. I slept through most of them.

[9:09] Why it was this old woman who used to hobble up the steps of your church. Limping and leaning on her crutches. And every thump of her crutch on the stone steps.

[9:20] She said, my blessed Jesus. My blessed Jesus. And the man said, as I looked at this poor disabled woman. And I saw the genuine content on her face.

[9:31] And at peace. I found out she lived a consistent life. In the face of poverty and loneliness. And I saw a living book. To which I could not reply.

[9:42] So I wanted the Christ that she professed. You know, walk. Even as he walked. You can be a living book. Amen. A living letter.

[9:53] If we are to be like Jesus. Let us see what he was like. And try to apply that. Try to make that part of your being. To be like him. So, so like him.

[10:05] So we are called to be even as he. Even as he ought we to be. As we just read there. As it says, as he is.

[10:20] So are we in this world. So, what does the word tell us that he is? Number one, I put to you. He is pure. Verse three of our text.

[10:33] And every man that hath this hope in him. Purify himself even as. Even as. Even as he is pure. He is pure. The pure.

[10:44] Even as Christ is pure. How can we be pure in a world that spots us? And it's hard to be spotless in a world that's constantly throwing muck at us.

[10:56] And pure. What does it mean? It means innocent. Clean. Pure from fault. God. It says. That we have a blessed hope. We have that trust that our Lord is coming.

[11:09] It's a blessed hope. It's a joyful glad. A certain glorious hope. That expectation. That our Lord Jesus is coming back. And it says. You are going to purify yourself. In the light of that fact.

[11:21] Purify yourself. Even as he is pure. You are going to want to be cleaned up. You want to be cleaned up from the inside out. Not holding on to evil. Not cherishing it.

[11:32] In the light of Christ coming. God wants to clean up his church. And Jesus. Our Lord is surely coming. And you are going to want to be ready for that.

[11:43] You are going to want that. You want to be ready. You want to be ready. Now Christian is going to purify himself. It says. This word pure. It means clean. This is a cleansing. It's a good feeling being clean.

[11:54] Isn't it? I think sometimes you have been labouring and working. And you feel unclean. And sweating and what not. That's a horrible feeling. But when you are clean.

[12:05] It's a freshness. To be freed from contamination. And this same word. This cleansing. Is used in James 4 verse 8. Where it says. Draw nigh to God.

[12:16] Draw near to him. And he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands you sinners. And purify your hearts. You double minded. There's a sense where. Our actions.

[12:27] Our doing can be clean. And our very heart can be made clean. Our hearts. Our very hearts can be washed. Peter talks along the same line. In 1 Peter 1 verse 22.

[12:39] He says. Seeing ye have purified your souls. In obeying the truth. Through the spirit. Unto unfeigned love. Of the brethren. See that ye love one another. With a pure heart.

[12:51] Fervently. There's much grace there isn't there. Purified your souls. And a pure love. A pure heart. That ye love one another so.

[13:02] With that purity. With that clean love. A Christian's heart will be made clean. This is the promise of God. The Christian soul can be made clean.

[13:13] And a Christian is going to want to. To be clean. To clean up our act. Because. He's coming. We want to be ready. We want to be ready. Christ's purity within us will shine through.

[13:25] Like a. A light that's shining brightly. It's not. Clouded with. With some contamination. It's brightly shining. We don't want that light to be dull. But to be bright.

[13:36] And clear. And pure. And Christ's purity within us will shine through. It's his doing. Let him. Let him shine. Let him shine. And we're called to be even as he.

[13:48] We see that number one. He is pure. Secondly. We see his sinless. Verse four of our text says. Whosoever committed sin is. Transgresseth also the law.

[14:01] For sin is the transgression of the law. And you know that he was manifested. To take away our sins. And in him. In him. Is no sin.

[14:12] It tells us he was manifested. To take away our sins. That's why he came. His purpose. Was to. Free us. From sin. To deliver us.

[14:24] And it says. In him. Is no sin. In him. In him. Be filled with Jesus. In him.

[14:35] Be filled with Jesus. And there will be no place left for sin. Let him fill you. So fill you. That sin will have no place for you.

[14:47] And God will help you to get the victory. Don't play with sin. Sin will damage. And hurt you. It tells in Proverbs 6.27, can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burnt?

[15:02] You know, you can't play with fire. I had occasion to get the equipment out for some bees and get the smoker ready with some smoke in it.

[15:13] And I was around all this dry material in my shed and I thought, if I just make a little mistake here with this match and with this tinder, with these embers, this could be disastrous.

[15:31] And sin is like that too. Some think they can play with sin, like they can play with matches. And we know what happens when kids play with matches, don't we? Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burnt?

[15:45] Friends, sin is like that. It's like fire can quickly get out of hand. The context there is of adultery. Now, you can't play with sin.

[15:56] You've got to be straight with God. Don't mess with it. Don't toy with it. Instead of being filled with sin, be filled with Jesus. Filled with him.

[16:08] We can know a filling, a Christ-centeredness. That Christ is at the very center, the very core of who we are, how we go about our life. Because as Paul says, to live is Christ.

[16:20] Without Christ, we're not truly living. I know we go witnessing Saturdays, off times, and you get folk that think that they're living without Jesus.

[16:35] And it's a great mistake to make. I know, I'm trying to think how he put it. Someone yesterday was saying, as I was reaching out to him, you know, trying to share the gospel, the good news, that Jesus has come to bring life.

[16:52] And he was saying, oh, I'm too busy living my life to worry about heaven. Sort of basically. Really, he's dead. He's actually a dead man talking.

[17:03] A dead man walking. And he's not living life. And I left him with the word that says, our Lord says, I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.

[17:14] Without Jesus, we're not living. Yeah. There's no life without him. In him is life. To live is Christ, says Paul. And he came to take away our sin.

[17:25] And you can know a deliverance from your sin. And a walk in that daily victory. And it's daily. A daily struggle. A daily fight. But there is a daily victory.

[17:37] And day by day, moment by moment, God will give you the grace to avoid sin. To run from it. Like Joseph. When he was tested and tempted, he ran from the situation of sin.

[17:50] We can be true like Daniel. In that worldly atmosphere of the palace. He said, I'm going to be true to my God.

[18:03] I'm not going to defile myself. I'm not going to stain myself. I'm not going to soil myself. I'm not going to defile myself. He said, I'm going to stand for what's true.

[18:15] And I'm going to honour my Lord. The Bible says, don't let sin reign in your mortal bodies. Don't let it rule there. Instead, let Christ rule. We see that in Romans 6.12.

[18:26] Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, but that you should obey it in the lust thereof. We don't want to obey sin. We want to obey the Saviour, don't we? That's our hope.

[18:37] And that's our trust. That's our desire. That's God's ideal. And as a Christian, God will help you. And God will deal with this sin problem. Verse 6 of our text says, Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not.

[18:53] The question is that, isn't it? Where's our abiding place? Are we abiding in Christ? Where are you abiding? A Christian is going to abide in Christ.

[19:05] And abide, it means stay put. It means this is my home. This is my dwelling place. This is where I've set up home. This is not just where I'm going to lodge.

[19:17] I'm not just couch surfing here. This is where I'm abiding. This is where I live. This is my home. I'm abiding. And 1 John 4.15 says, Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth, or abideth, same word.

[19:33] God dwelleth in him. God abides in him. And he in God. Don't you want to abide in God? To abide in Christ. That God will abide in you. You can know that today.

[19:45] By his mercy. Thank God there's help for us. If we get the abiding right, there's help, there's hope. And where we slip, there's still hope then. 1 John 2.1.

[19:56] My little children. These things write I unto you that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate. We have an advocate with the Father.

[20:08] Even Jesus Christ, the righteous. So let Christ rule and reign in your heart. And if there's times you slip, go back to him.

[20:23] Talk to the advocate for your soul. If you're a Christian, Christ sets up his home in your heart. You can know that. The previous occupant, Mr. or Ms. Sin, has moved out.

[20:36] You know, you might get that when you move into a place and you keep getting mail from the last person that lived there. No, they've moved out. Sin doesn't live here anymore. Jesus does.

[20:47] Amen. Jesus is the new resident in my heart. There's a story told about a man who was a prisoner. And he had an unusual imprisonment.

[20:59] I know there's some we've been talking to about diets lately. And this is not to put anything on anyone who's got a need to diet, which I have lately.

[21:09] But in the 14th century, they lived a Jew who was called Reinald III. And this was Belgium. This man, this Duke Reinald. And Reinald was grossly overweight.

[21:22] And Reinald's younger brother, Edward, led a successful revolt against him. And he captured Reinald. But he did not kill him. Instead, Edward built this room for Reinald in his castle.

[21:33] And promised that he could regain his title and his property as soon as he was able to leave this room. This would not have been difficult for most people since the room was, you know, that had several windows and a door of near normal size.

[21:47] And none was locked or barred. This was just a door that he could walk straight out if he wanted to. But the problem was Reinald's size. To regain his freedom, he needed to lose weight.

[21:59] But Edward knew his older brother. And each day he set before him a variety of delicious foods. Oh, you name it, it was laid on for Reinald. And instead of dieting his way out of prison, Reinald grew larger.

[22:13] And when Duke Edward was accused of cruelty, he said, This, my brother is not a prisoner. He may leave when he so wills. And Reinald stayed in that room for 10 years.

[22:27] He wasn't released until after Edward died in battle. But then Reinald's house was so ruined, he died within a year. A prisoner of his own appetite. What a picture of sin, isn't it?

[22:38] What a picture of sin, that we become a prisoner of our own sinful appetites. We can become so alike, a prisoner of sin.

[22:49] Under its rule and domination in our body. Sin can have dominion to rule over our mortal bodies. Such we're a prisoner we can't escape.

[23:01] You know, those delicious treats just draw us back. God doesn't want us to be drawn away. But to be like Christ.

[23:15] To be like Christ. He's sinless. Wow. And that's something to aspire to, isn't it? This side of heaven. That we can give up our sin.

[23:26] God helping us. We can abide in Christ. Make that conscious decision to abide in Him. And abstain from sin. And it can be such. Moment by moment.

[23:37] God helping us. We can get victory. As that new king. Rules and reigns over our life. And those little treats that the devil would give us.

[23:50] They're really holding us prisoner. And we need to see them for what they are. So friends, you can serve the Lord gladly. And willingly. And God will help you with the daily battle of living the life He's called you to live.

[24:05] So we should be even as He. Firstly, He is pure. Wow. That's unattainable, isn't it? He is pure. But we are meant to be as He is.

[24:15] He is sinless. That's even harder, isn't it? He is sinless. We ought to be as He is. Sinless. Thirdly, we see He is righteous. Verse 7. Little children, let no man deceive you.

[24:27] He that doeth righteousness is righteous. Even as He is righteous. Friends, Christianity is practical. It's practical. Notice it says, do righteousness.

[24:41] Do right. Make that choice. Make that of your own volition. I'm going to do right. Even when everyone else is doing wrong. Even when the crowd says, just go with the majority.

[24:55] If it was about a vote, they'd vote in Antichrist. And one day they will. Do what is right. Not what the crowd says. Don't follow the crowd.

[25:07] The Bible says don't follow a multitude to do evil. Do right. Do right. And we'll do what's right. We'll determine to do the right thing to do.

[25:17] Do what is the right thing to do. Do what is right biblically. It's talking about putting feet under your faith. Now some, it's been said of some, some Christians don't give what is right.

[25:30] They give what's left. Give what's right. Not the leftovers of your life. Give what's right. Give your heart to Christ. Give your all to Christ. Give your soul, your senses, your strength.

[25:43] Give it all to Christ. Give what's right. Not what's left. Be deliberate in your giving. Of yourself, of your time, of your commitment. It's your heart.

[25:57] Give what's right. Give time to caring for others. To reach out to the troubled ones. The bruised. Let the compassion of Jesus come out of you to others.

[26:09] It's the right thing, isn't it? It's right and true. And say the right thing. When the words that you want to say are not right, don't say them. Zip the lip. It's a good choice to make.

[26:22] Our Lord was holy, just, right. He did what was right. He did what was righteous in his character, in his actions. In 1 John 1.7 it says, But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin.

[26:41] Wow. You can be sinless. Because he cleanses you from all sin. That's the way. He is perfect. He is perfect. And perfection is in him.

[26:52] And you are in him. And there is no fault in him. That was the legal verdict of Christ, wasn't it? I find no fault with this man. You are in him. The one who is faultless.

[27:04] God wants our walk to be right. And that means some practical things, doesn't it? Wow. How do you make that really happen? Righteousness. It's mentioned often in God's word. Matthew 5 verse 6 it says, Our Lord says, Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.

[27:22] God wants you to hunger and thirst for it. Make it your hunger. Make it your thirst. Not those delicious treats that the devil would tender, but that which your heart and soul would hunger and yearn for, and righteousness of God.

[27:36] And you shall be filled. Christ promises. The word righteous, it means to go in a straight line. It means to move in a straight line, to go the straight way. The devil would like you to go wandering.

[27:53] The wrong way. It's a bit like my navigation skills. You know, Julie always sets me on the right path. And when I listen to Julie, everything goes right.

[28:06] When I get the feeling, Oh, I'm just heading in the right general direction, I'm usually going the wrong way. And the devil's just like that, isn't it? Just wants you to go in the, Oh, it sort of sounds generally the right way.

[28:17] No. Go the right way. Go the right and true way. Go God's way. What direction is your life going? It's a big question, isn't it? How do we get to be righteous? Romans 3.22, it says, The righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that believe.

[28:38] The righteousness of God is by faith in Jesus Christ. He makes it happen. Wow. Aren't you thankful that he actually makes it happen?

[28:48] He makes it a reality. And Romans 10.10, it says, For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. You can believe God's promise.

[29:01] You can believe that he is able. And it says in 1 Corinthians 1.30, But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.

[29:17] Christ is made your wisdom. Christ is made your sanctification, your holy living. Christ is made your righteousness, your right heart before him.

[29:29] It's Christ. He's made that unto you. And friends, our righteousness is not our own. It's imputed to us like it was to Abraham. It was imputed. God said, Okay, I'm going to remove this from your account, your sin, and I'm going to credit to your account, Christ's righteousness.

[29:51] And that's the imputation. It was granted. It was given. It was a grant. God's righteousness is given to you.

[30:10] It's been said, if you look through a piece of red glass, everything is red. If you look through a piece of blue glass, everything is blue. If you look through a piece of yellow glass, everything is yellow.

[30:22] And when we trust Christ as our Savior, God looks at us through the Lord Jesus Christ. He sees us in all the white holiness of his Son. He sees that you are in Christ.

[30:33] He sees that your sins are imputed. Your sins are reckoned to the account of Christ. And his righteousness is credited to your account. Wow, wouldn't you like, as it were, a bank balance of that, that the riches of Christ are credited to your account?

[30:51] Wow, you're so wealthy because of that. That credit of his righteousness is credited to your account. And on the other side of the coin, as Christians, we need to guard against self-righteousness.

[31:06] To think, I've arrived, and they haven't. You know, as if it's a self-centered kind of righteousness. That's not so. Because our righteousness is his. It's for all of us.

[31:18] All of your righteousnesses. All of my righteousnesses. He is our righteousness. Jeremiah 33, 16. It's one of his very names. The Lord, our righteousness.

[31:29] Wow. Don't you want that? That he would be your righteousness? You need to know the Lord, our righteousness. Moody used to say, you can always tell when a man is a great way off from God.

[31:42] He's always talking about himself. How good he is. But the moment he sees God by the eye of faith, he gets down on his knees and like Job, he cries, behold, I am vile.

[31:58] It's getting it in the context, doesn't it? Getting it in the perspective. And it's not that we are morally clean of our own making. And the vileness can even be our own self-righteousness to think we've arrived.

[32:15] But our standard of righteousness is Christ. And in Christ we have that. And as we draw closer to him, we'll know that more.

[32:26] The merits and the extent that we have surrendered to him will receive his righteousness. So righteousness in reality is not of us.

[32:40] It's of him. Everything has everything to do with the Lord Jesus. Has he your heart? Are you in Christ?

[32:52] Are you abiding in him? Then you'll receive that righteousness he grants at you. It's been said that God never alters the robes of righteousness to fit man.

[33:03] He changes the man to fit the robe. He wants to give you a robe of righteousness and he alters not the robe, he alters you. So that robe of righteousness will clothe you.

[33:15] And so are you acting like Jesus? Just as we're drawing to the close here, here's how someone penned this little poem.

[33:25] Who will be their Jesus? And you think if you want to be like Jesus, what of the others who know him not? Who will be their Jesus?

[33:36] And it's quite a telling story that is in this poem and you can reflect on these words. Who will guide like Jesus, the man who's lost his way?

[33:48] Who will search like Jesus, the woman gone astray? Who will hug like Jesus, the one confirmed with AIDS? Who will feed like Jesus, the child whose hope now fades?

[34:02] Who will pray like Jesus, the friends who struggle hard? Who will love like Jesus, the outcast life, a scar? Who will weep like Jesus for pain in others' eyes?

[34:14] Who will speak like Jesus, warning of Satan's lies? Who will pause their judging just long enough to serve? Who will touch the leper that someone have the nerve?

[34:26] Will you be there Jesus? To those who come your way, will you offer kindness and Christ to them display?

[34:37] It's a telling thought, isn't it? Will you be there Jesus? Will you be as Jesus such that it'll impact others? To be like him, so like him, in all your conduct and actions?

[34:50] Jesus, and that trite phrase, what would Jesus do? It's actually something you think about before you do something. What would Jesus do?

[35:02] Can we be more loving, more gracious, more forgiving? Will we take the time like Jesus took to be with those that others would not consider worth the time?

[35:17] Romans 8, 29, it says God wants to conform us, to shape us, to mould us, to the image of his son. Maybe you're feeling like you're falling short, that high standard of Christ's purity, of his sinlessness, of his righteousness.

[35:40] He's affecting that. He's making that happen as he is conforming you to the image of his son. He's shaping you. Just be that malleable clay, be that pliable clay in the potter's hands.

[35:58] Let him conform you to his own image, the image of his son. And friends, it tells us we are being changed. It's a process, it's a process that starts at salvation and it's effective when we step out of this shell.

[36:15] that he is perfecting us, he's changing us into his image. So we can be increasingly more like him every day, day by day.

[36:25] 2 Corinthians 3.18 to close it says, but we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into, changed into, changed into the same image.

[36:39] From glory to glory, glory, even as by the spirit of the Lord. God is doing that. It's a spiritual work.

[36:51] It's his Holy Spirit's work. And he is changing us from glory to glory into the same image, even as by the spirit of the Lord.

[37:04] God wants you to be changed. He wants me to be changed. He wants that change to be effected. And it is the work of the spirit of the Lord.

[37:17] Let his spirit do that holy work in you. That our heart will be so shaped and changed, that we'll be so conformed, that there'll be more of Jesus in us tomorrow than there was today.

[37:29] And the next and the next, more so, that our heart will be like his heart, that we'll be moved to compassion, that we'll be moved to reach out, to care, to strive to be as he is.

[37:42] We shall be like him. Amen. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that salvation is the beginning. And Lord, that trust by faith of what you've done for us makes that begin.

[38:00] That work that you have begun will be completed. as you perform it and as you conform us day by day, even as by the Spirit of the Lord will be changed into the same image.

[38:14] And when you appear, we shall be like you. Lord, these are promises your words help us. We can grasp and apply that you can activate that life of Christ in us, that we will abide in you, such that you will dwell in us, and that we will dwell in you.

[38:33] And Lord, we know, Lord, we fail, yet you are gracious day by day. Lord, we know we lack, but you make up for our lacks.

[38:47] Lord, we know that we strive and sometimes battle, and it seems a hard fight, yet Lord, you have won the victory.

[39:00] And this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. Lord, that you could affect that transforming work in each one. We pray each one here this morning might know the saving grace that saves us, that delivers us by faith as we trust everything that you have done.

[39:20] That gift of Calvary's cross, salvation is that blood bought gift that you grant to that one that calls upon you and trusts you.

[39:32] Lord, we pray each one might have that assurance today. And Lord, for each believer here, Lord, help us to be encouraged that as much as it seems impossible that we would be like you, your word tells us that we can be more like you.

[39:50] And make that work happen, Lord, as we live our lives this side of heaven. that when you appear, we shall be like you. We thank you, Lord, in Jesus' name.

[40:03] Amen. Praise God.